An advert I did for Boddingtons Beer in 1994. It was set on an apparently very glamorous beach, with me in a bikini and a big hat; then the camera pulled back, and you saw it was actually Blackpool and my name was Vera and I had a thick Manchester accent. To me, it was just another embarrassing stunt. For another ad, I'd skied down a mountain with a yoghurt pot on my head. But it led to a lot of roles as northern women: people didn't seem to realise I was actually from Somerset.

What have you sacrificed for your art?

A lot of boyfriends have hit the dust. It wasn't until I met my now-husband that I realised there was something more important than rolling up on set.

Are TV commissioners failing to invest enough in drama?

Yes, hugely. Once, we were kings of drama, but the British industry is now in real trouble. Budgets are constantly going down, and everyone's obsessed with viewing figures. But you can't make decisions about art based on how many people are watching.

Complete this sentence: At heart I'm just a frustrated …

Explorer.

What's your favourite film?

I love early Woody Allen films for the way they portray that dirty, chatty, 70s New York. It's much shinier over there now.

Are women on TV judged too much on their looks?

Yes. It never used to be that way in Britain, but it's becoming ever more so. Having to look perfect all the time puts a huge strain on the actress, and it's not appealing for the audiences. They want to look at an actress and think: "Yeah, that could be me."

Is there an art form you don't relate to?

Opera. I really have tried.

Have you ever had an embarrassing moment on set?

Last year I played a troll in [the BBC series] Merlin. It was an incredibly hot day, I was in full prosthetic makeup and a huge fat-suit, and, unbeknownst to me, I was about five weeks pregnant. During a photoshoot, I fell like a sack of spuds. The thought of it always makes me laugh.

Do you read your reviews?

Yes, sometimes. But I never take them personally. Today's newspaper is tomorrow's chip paper, isn't it?

In short

Born: Yeovil, 1968.

Career: Has starred in the TV series Peak Practice, Hearts and Bones, Cutting It, Blackpool and Mistresses, the third series of which begins on Thursday on BBC1 at 9pm.

High point: "Doing [the musical comedy] Blackpool – it was a real risk for the BBC, and the risk paid off."